It is now possible to create a work of art using a few key words and artificial intelligence by simply typing a phrase into an artificial intelligence program.

Is this a powerful new creative tool or the beginning of the end for artists? Los Angeles Times arts reporter Steven Vargas joined Lisa McRee on "LA Times Today" with more on the technology and the debates surrounding it. 

Vargas explained how to use programs like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney to create works of art. 

"You can type in any phrase, and it'll spit out, within 30 seconds, a different image that kind of encapsulates what you typed up. They sometimes look a little warped, specifically with Midjourney. But for DALL-E 2... very hyper-focused and very detailed images that come out of it. And it is exactly what you type out."

This AI technology is being used by commercial artists, from magazine covers to augmenting artists' visions. 

"A lot of artists are actually using it to complement what they're doing," said Vargas. "So, if someone is really good at drawing figures, but not so good at drawing backgrounds, [they can go to] DALL-E 2 and... could type in a specific thing with the background and then add it to the illustration that they already made and create a fuller image of what they wanted."

Issues like ownership and copyright of artistic works are being discussed alongside the AI programs. Vargas talked about how problems like biases and racism can be perpetuated by the technology as well. 

"We saw that a lot with DALL-E 2 when it was in the beta stage... Specifically, whenever you look at things like 'criminal,' a lot of the images that would come out would be people of color. That kind of reinstated that stereotype that's out there... Because that racial bias is out there and it's very prevalent in our society, it is basically just reflecting what's already a reality to us. What DALL-E had to do is they had to go through their algorithm and tweak it so that it didn't reflect that."

Click the arrow above to watch examples of AI-generated artworks. 

Watch "LA Times Today" at 7 and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News app.